Business Briefs

Candidate forum set for VIA luncheon The five City Council candidates running for two open positions will discuss issues relevant to the local business community during the next Valley Industrial Association luncheon on March 18.

The luncheon is scheduled to begin at 11:30 a.m. and will take place at the Hyatt Valencia, 24500 Town Center Drive in Valencia.

Each candidate will be given an opportunity to address concerns important to the Santa Clarita business community.

The business luncheon is open to the public. The cost is $35 for VIA members and $45 for non-members.

Reservations for the March 18 luncheon should be received by March 13 and can be made by calling VIA at (661) 294-8088 or by visiting www.via.org.

Sports marketing firm comes to Santa ClaritaO'Brien Media/Advertising/Sports Marketing has opened offices in Santa Clarita. The firm will be led by C. Patrick O'Brien, a veteran of sports marketing and advertising who has negotiated more than $500 million dollars in corporate sponsorship and naming rights agreements.

Prior to launching his own firm in 2006, O'Brien served as senior vice president for AEG/Envision and was director of sports advertising sales at Los Angeles radio station KFWB 980.

The office is located at 28042 Avenue Stanford, Suite E in Valencia.

The SST Group now Optimize Inc.The SST Group, a management consulting firm in Santa Clarita, announced that it is rebranding under the name Optimize Inc. The company's new Web site can be found at www.optimizeinc.net.

"We are taking this step so we can integrate our consulting practice (strategy and performance management) with our proprietary learning and development software into one common brand," company president Marc Emmer said.